A multimodal communication device is a communication device that is capable of communicating using multiple different communication modes. Many of the communication modes found on a modern multimodal communication device were originally developed for desktop computers. Examples of such communication modes include instant messaging (IM), email, and peer-to-peer (P2P) voice. The user interface environment for which these communication modes were developed includes a large screen (e.g., 15 inch monitor), a full keyboard, and a pointing device (e.g., a mouse).
Communication modes that were originally developed for desktop computers have been added to mobile devices such as cellular phones. However, mobile devices are generally designed to be small, lightweight and easily portable. Accordingly, mobile devices typically have displays of limited size and have limited input devices.